Amethi’s no longer a safe bet? Well, if reports are to be believed, Congress president Rahul Gandhi may contest the Lok Sabha polls from two constituencies. In addition to Amethi, the traditional Uttar Pradesh constituency from where he’s been contesting since 2004, it is reported that there are two others he is evaluating. Surprise, surprise... maybe not.

Nanded, Maharashtra: The Lok Sabha constituency of senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan, this is a Congress bastion. The party’s won 16 out of the 20 Lok Sabha elections and by elections. Even in the 2014 state elections rout, it held on to 3 out of 6 assembly segments. And in 2017, the Congress swept Nanded Municipal Corporation polls, winning 73 out of the 81 seats.

Rahul contesting from Nanded could also have a spillover effect in Latur, Yavatmal-Washim, Parbhani and Hingoli — thereby helping the Congress-NCP cause in the Marathwada region for both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls due in September-October. The constituency also borders Karnataka and Telangana, where the Congress hopes to improve its showing from 2014.

Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh: Kamal Nath is a nine-time MP from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress was last voted out in 2003. But he will be stepping down soon to become an MLA to continue as Madhya Pradesh’s CM. The district though, has voted differently in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls previously.

Fact: Since 1980, Nath has lost the Lok Sabha seat just once. But, for instance, in 2013, the Congress could win only 3 out of 7 seats in the district. Six months later, Nath went on to win the Lok Sabha seat for the ninth time, surviving Modi’s wave in the Hindi heartland. BJP, however, held the advantage in Chhindwara during the 2008 and 2003 state polls, despite Nath triumphing at the Lok Sabha polls with comfortable margins.

Clarification: An earlier version of this story quoted news reports as saying Rahul Gandhi may be planning to ‘contest’ from three seats. The fact is: under section 33 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, a person is allowed to contest polls from a maximum of two seats. The new version reflects the change to the Congress chief is ‘evaluating’ three seats.

Go low: Kerala High Court told Supreme Court that it could not find a single candidate from reserved category crossing the threshold of minimum percentage of marks for appointment as judicial officer in trial courts. As many as 2700-odd candidates had competed for 45 posts of judicial officers and only 31 general category candidates could be selected. The HC had fixed 35% as qualifying marks and 40% for main examination and only three reserved category candidates qualified for the interview and none were found suitable for the post. The top court said in such situations the HCs should consider relaxing the minimum percentage of marks (like it’s done for recruitment to posts in other services) “otherwise, the reserved category candidates can never pass the examination and the posts earmarked for them will always remain vacant”. Representation of OBCs in subordinate judiciary of 11 states that responded to the Centre’s request for details added up to just 12% last year, considerably lower than the estimates of the community’s share in India’s population.

Go high: The new 10% EWS reservation will enhance seats by up to 3 lakh in centrally funded institutions alone, which include elite institutions such as IITs, IIMs and NITs. These seats are to be added in two phases: 2019-20 and 2010-21. Number of seats on institutions run by state governments will also go up by 25%. In two years, the number of seats in IITs will increase by 5,100, while the IIMs will increase it by 3,100. Large universities like Delhi University will have over 16,000 additional seats to offer while smaller ones like JNU will have 346. Centre is also working on bylaws for unaided (private) institutions.

Go to the bank: Centre has said that it will fund government institutions’ infrastructure requirements but there will be no government funding for private institutions as each seat in unaided institutions are self-financing.

Cut to size: China's 2-million-strong military, the world's largest force, has trimmed its army by about 50% and significantly boosted its navy and air force as part of a strategic shift to transform its military into one that allows Beijing to flex its muscles beyond its borders and protect its interests overseas.

The flab: In the last few years, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has downsized its military by retrenching three lakh troops under the military reforms initiated by President Xi Jinping. China’s official news agency Xinhua says: “the army now accounts for less than 50% of the total number of troops; almost half of our non-combatant units have been made redundant, and the number of officers in the PLA has been reduced by 30%.” In 2013, the PLA had a total of 2.3-million servicemen, with only 235,000 in the navy and 398,000 in the air force.

The force: The Chinese military currently has five independent branches, including the army, navy, air force, rocket force — the strategic and tactical missile operator — and strategic support force, which is in charge of cyber, space, and electronic warfare. The last two were established three years ago as President Xi stepped up efforts to modernise the military.

The history: The PLA Army, founded in 1927 as the Red Army of China, was the key to the Chinese Communist Party's victory in the civil war in 1949 and maintained its dominance within the military throughout 10 major overhauls between 1950 and 2005. The PLA had no navy or air force until 1949 and the PLA Rocket Force, first known as 'the Second Artillery Corps', was founded in 1966.

No one’s going: The conclave of global elite (political and business leaders), who meet every year (World Economic Forum) to discuss how to fix world’s problems got underway in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday. However, the list of bigwigs skipping the meet seems to be bigger this year than those attending. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is giving it a miss and so are US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Of the Group of Seven countries, top leaders from only Germany, Italy and Japan are attending.

Domestic trumps global: While problems at home have held back some (Trump is dealing with a federal government shutdown, Theresa May is busy with Brexit, Macron has ‘yellow vest’ protesters, Jinping is dealing with a slowdown), pressures of electoral politics (PM Modi has a tough election ahead) or fear of criticism over the cost of the Davos get-together (Macron and Trudeau had to deal with it) has prevented others from going.

First-timers hold fort: While the bigwigs may be taking a break, many new heads of state will be making their presence felt. Among them: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (a month into his presidency and called ‘Trump of the Tropics’), Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Giuseppe Conte of Italy and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern.

The issues: While the emphasis is likely to be on climate change (WEF members ranked it their biggest worry in a pre-event survey and will fly in record number of private jets to discuss it), global economic concerns (US-China trade war, Brexit, US government shutdown, slowing global economy) are also likely to figure prominently.

Globalisation 4.0: You will hear that term often this week. Why 4? Some experts believe that we are entering a new phase of globalisation after the first (from 1820-1914 that came with steam power and the industrial revolution), second (from the end of World War 2 to around 1990) and third (1990s till now powered by internet and the rise of emerging economies like India).

Article 35a, which grants Jammu and Kashmir special status, is often in the news. But BJP’s push for the Citizenship Bill (amendment) has brought another similar law into the fore: Article 371(a), a law regarding Nagaland, which its CM says will nullify the Citizenship bill in the state.

What: The Constitution of India has granted some states special provisions, of varying degree, keeping in mind the history of the region — India, after all, is not a monolith as some like to project. Article 371(a) thus gives Nagaland certain provisions due to the special status it has held even before the Independence — the inner-line permit that northeastern states require from a visitor is also a result of this history. Among the provisions are that no act of the Indian Parliament will be applicable in Nagaland — unless the state decides to — on matters related to: a) religious & social practices of Nagas b) Nagas customary law & procedure, c) administration of civil or criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law, and d) ownership & transfer of land & its resources.

The article also grants the governor “special responsibility” on law & order in the state, saying his decision will be final regarding internal disturbances occurring in Naga hills, mainly in the Tuesang area that border Myanmar. The special responsibility ceases if the President of India directs so. A governor’s decision is after consultation with the council of ministers, but he may choose to defer.

That means: Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, an ally of BJP, is suggesting that the Citizenship Bill that the centre wants to be enacted — it calls for Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan — will be at odds with the Naga practices and customary law. Hence his assertion that it will not be applicable in the state.

More: There are more states that enjoy one or the other special provision. 371 (b) on Assam, 371(d) on Arunachal Pradesh, 371 (c) on Manipur and so on. Not all of these accords the same right to the state or the governor, however.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affair has said that the Indian citizenship will not be granted to any individual without the relevant state’s consent, even as BJP president Amit Shah said during a campaign in West Bengal that all Bengali refugees will be granted Indian citizenship.

An ideal World Cup rehearsal:India are likely to play 10 ODIs before the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. And half of those will be in NZ, beginning today in Napier, where the pitches and conditions are perhaps the best simulationof what will be on offer at the World Cup beginning May 30 in England. Australia arrive in India in February-March for two T20Is and five ODIs, but those are home conditions. The announcement of dates for this year's IPL has also put Zimbabwe's tour of India (1 Test and 3 ODIs), which was to follow in March, in doubt.

Battle for No. 2: Toppling England, the No. 1 ODI side, isn’t a possibility. But it’s second spot on the ICC ODI rankings that’s up for grabs. New Zealand (NZ) are ranked third and trail No. 2 India by eight rating points. That could be reversed if NZ inflict a 5-0 whitewash (that’s one better than the 4-0 handed out when India last visited in 2014). The hosts would rise from 113 points to 118 points, while the visitors would drop from 121 to 116. (A 4-0 scoreline will have them both on 117). Any other series scoreline keeps India at No. 2.

Opportunity knocks: One player’s misfortune is another’s gain. Just ask replacement batsman Mayank Agarwal who sorted out India’s opener woes in the Australia Test series — Prithvi Shaw was ruled out due to injury, while KL Rahul and Murali Vijay failed to impress. For the NZ tour, Jasprit Bumrah’s been rested, while Hardik Pandya and Rahul face disciplinary issues. Can the likes of Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar, Khaleel Ahmed and Mohammed Siraj make a serious case for World Cup 2019?

In addition to the five ODIs, India will also be playing three T20 internationals in New Zealand. Check the series page here

India’s startup world is fretting about the so-called angel tax, saying it could prematurely end India’s dream to be a startup hub. So what is this angel tax?

The angel tax was introduced in 2012 to stop wealthy individuals from laundering money through unlisted companies. The trouble is there is a legitimate investment wherein wealthy individuals invest in unlisted companies at a valuation not justified by the company’s revenue and profit: In startups, especially those in an early stage. That’s called an “angel investment”. An early-stage startup is a promise — an idea. Thus an investor values a startup on a possibility, and his or her returns will be based on a future valuation — the model is called discounted cash flow.

But India’s taxmen do not recognise the model. To them, an investment not justified by its revenue and profit or assets is an income, and thus taxable. That is because taxmen consider the net asset value method for their calculation. According to a survey carried out by LocalCircle — a pressure group — 32% startups have received multiple tax notices, and 45% see “corruption or bureaucratic inefficiency” as the biggest challenge in the business. In a scathing rebuke of PM Modi’s “Startup India” campaign, 82% said they have not received any benefit from the scheme.

The Modi government tried to calm the situation by amending the criteria for the tax. It said an angel investment will be exempt from tax if: a) “The aggregate amount of paid-up share capital and share premium of the start-up after the proposed issue of share, if any, does not exceed Rs 10 crore” and b) if the investor shall have a “returned income of Rs 50 lakh or more for the financial year preceding the year of investment” and “net worth exceeding Rs 2 crore”. But a ceiling of Rs 10 crore (approx 1.4 million) is low — and even arbitrary. Also, for the rest, the tax remains high — a startup could pay as high as 30%. And startups seeking an exemption should register with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion — effectively more paperwork to prove you are a just business.

Sleepless in the corner office: Being a CEO is going to suck this year. According to a survey by PwC, business executives across the globe are increasingly despondent about the economy and their industry, with a dramatic six-fold rise in the percentage of CEOs who believe the global economic growth rate will decline this year — from just 5% in 2018 to 29% this year.

The Trump hump: By far the worst dip in optimism has been in North America — and no prizes for guessing why (hint: the T factor) — with just 37% CEOs believing that the economic growth rate will climb, as against 68% last year. There’s also been a nine-fold increase in the share of those who feel economy will decline, from 3% last year to 29% this year. In fact, such is the despondency level that the short term (12 month) and long term (3 year) revenue growth projections are practically the same — and in some cases, such as North America, long term revenue growth projection is actually lower than short term revenue growth.

Will India benefit? Depends — while external factors are certainly in India’s favour, with the economy growing faster than China’s even though Beijing still gets more votes as an attractive investment destination than New Delhi, whose share fell from last year and India expected to overtake the UK as the world’s 5th largest economy, the country goes to the polls later this year with political uncertainty writ large on the horizon, which could tilt the scales in case of policy ambiguity.

The case: A Dutch surgeon previously suspended for medical negligence has won a “right to be forgotten” case against Google; the company has been ordered to remove search results relating to her past suspension. The case could rekindle the debate over the right to be forgotten, especially at a time many countries are mirroring the EU rule. Even India’s draft privacy policy had proposed the right to be forgotten, though the draft appears to be in cold storage.

Go deeper: The doctor’s registration was initially suspended by a disciplinary panel after a complaint about her post-operative care of a patient. But it was changed to a conditional suspension under which she was allowed to continue to practice upon an appeal. But a website that appears on the top of the Google search result for her name carried a list of “blacklisted doctors” based on the outdated information. The surgeon argued it amounted to “digital pillory” and be taken down. The official website of the concerned authority does have all the relevant information, or past disciplinary actions and the changes.

Courting trouble: In fact, the surgeon’s appeal to the Dutch privacy watchdog was turned down after it concluded that the surgeon’s continued probation meant that the search results were still relevant. But she appealed to a district court in Amsterdam, who has now ordered the result to be taken down. The case isn’t the first wrinkle thrown in the debate. The broad nature of the law could also mean a criminal who has served term could ask Google to take down all news articles referring to his case. That’s why a few journalism groups are appealing against the law.

In another case, French data protection watchdog, CNIL, has fined Google a record $57m for failing to provide users with transparent and understandable information on its data policies. This was also the first time European Union’s new law on data — GDPR or the general data protection regulation — that allows for a fine up to 4% of the annual turnover was used.

Small is big: In 2018, the Alto (with a Rs 2.6-lakh starting price), which was the number 1 car for 14 straight years, lost its crown to the Dzire, Maruti’s compact sedan launched in 2008 and priced Rs 5.7 lakh onwards. In rival Hyundai’s stable, too, sales of the Grand i10 fell by about 13%, while it’s bigger siblings, the i20 and Creta, saw robust sales growth of about 10% and 15%, respectively.

Dzire beats Alto: Although the Dzire and its hatchback version, the Swift, have outsold the Alto for a few months in past years, this is the first time that a sedan has been India’s biggest-selling car for a whole year. While the Dzire’s sales grew by 18% in a year, demand for the Alto fell by 0.5%.

Swift beats Alto: Maruti’s hatchback Swift first overtook the Alto in sales in April 2012 when it clocked 19,500 units compared to Alto’s 18,000. The see-saw battle for supremacy between the sister brands continued for some time after that.

Alto beats 800: The Alto became the best-ever selling model in October 2015 when it hit a cumulative total of 29 lakh units sold over 15 years, overtaking the then phased-out M800. Maruti's small car M800, which had redefined personal transportation in India when it was launched in December 1983, had clocked over 28 lakh units cumulatively before the company stopped its production in January 2014.

Why: Easy finance options and higher disposable incomes have propelled many to opt for a sub-4 metre sedan as their first car. It may also mean that first-time buyers are not increasing as quickly as those who are upgrading, or buying another car.

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Virat Kohli. The Indian captain on Tuesday became the first cricketer in history to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Cricketer of the Year, the ICC Men’s Test Player of the Year and the ICC ODI Player of the Year awards in the same year, following an extraordinary 2018. The 30-year-old was also named captain of the ICC Test and ODI teams of the year. Kohli had won the Sir Garfield Trophy and ICC ODI Player of the Year awards last year and was also the ICC ODI Player of the Year in 2012.